Hsin7
Introduction Page One ... Page Two ... Page Three ... Without Commentary ... Cleary Translation ... Shinjin-No-Mei D.T.Suzuki ---- A translation known as Faith Mind by Clark is a W.I.P. as is the original Chinese ---- :Clark tranlation of Faith Mind ... :needs formatting ... :will get to it when i can -ts-talk 18:14, 26 Aug 2005 (UTC) ---- :FAITH MIND by Seng-Tsan the 3rd Zen Patriarch :The Great Way is not difficult :for those who have no preferences :When love and hate are both absent :everything becomes clear and undisguised :Make the smallest distinction however :and heaven and earth are set infinitely apart :If you wish to see the truth :then hold no opinions for or against anything :To set-up what you like against what :you dislike is the disease of the mind :When the deep meaning of things is not understood :the mind's essential peace is isturbed to no avail :The Way is perfect like vast space :where nothing is lacking and nothing is in excess :Indeed, it is due to our choosing to accept or :reject that we do not see the true nature of things :Live neither in the entanglements of outer :things nor in the inner feelings of emptiness :Be serene in the Oneness of things and such :erroneous views will disappear by themselves :When you try to stop activity to acheive passivity :your very effort fills you with activity :As long as you remain in one extreme or the other :you will never know Oneness :Those who do not live in the single Way ail in :both activity and passivity, assertion and denial :To deny the reality of things is to miss their reality; :to assert the emptiness of things is to miss their reality :The more you talk and think about it the :further astray you wander from the truth :Stop talking and thinking and there is :nothing you will not be able to know :To return to the root is to find the meaning :but to pursue appearance is to miss the source :At the moment of inner enlightenment :there is a going beyond appearance and emptiness :The changes that appear to occur in the empty world :we call real only because of our ignorance :Do not search for the truth only cease to cherish opinions :Do not remain in a dualistic state ... :avoid such pursuits carefully :If there is even a trace of this and that, :of right and wrong,the Mind-essence will be lost in confusion :Although all dualities come from the One :do not be attached even to the One :When the mind exists undisturbed in the Way :nothing in the world can offend :And when things can no longer offend :it ceases to exist in the old way :When no discriminating thoughts arise :the old mind ceases to exist :When thought objects vanish, the thinking subject vanishes :as when the mind vanishes, objects vanish :Things are objects because of the subject (mind) the mind :(subject) is such because of things (object) :Understand the relativity of these two :and the basic reality: the unity of emptiness :In this Emptiness the two are indistinguishable :and each contains in itself the whole world :If you do not discriminate between coarse and fine :you will not be tempted to prejudice and opinion :To live in the Great Way is neither easy nor difficult :But those with limited views are fearful and irresolute :The faster they hurry, the slower they go :and clinging (attachment) cannot be limited :Even to be attached to the idea of enlightenment :is to go astray :Just let things be in their own way :and there will be neither coming nor going :Obey the nature of things (your own nature) :and you will walk freely and undisturbed :When thought is in bondage the truth is hidden :for everything is murky and unclear :And the burdensome practise of judging :brings annoyance and weariness :What benefit can be derived :from distinctions and separations? :If you wish to move in the One Way, :do not dislike even the world of senses and ideas :Indeed, to accept them fully is identical with true Enlightenment :The wise man strives to no goals but the foolish man fetters himself :There is one Dharma, not many; :distinctions arise from the clinging needs of the ignorant :To seek Mind with the (discriminating) mind :is the greatest of all mistakes :Rest and unrest derive from passion, :with enlightenment there is no liking or disliking :All dualities come from ignorant inference :they are like dreams or flowers in the air :Foolish to try to grasp them :Gain and loss, right and wrong, :such thoughts must finally be abolished at once :If the eye never sleeps :all dreams will naturally cease :If the mind makes no discriminations :the ten thousand things are as they are - of single essence :To understand the mystery of this One essence :is to be released from all entanglements :When all things are seen equally :the timeless Self-essence is reached :No comparisons or analogies are possible :in this causeless, relationless state :Consider movement stationary, :and the stationary in motion :Both movement and rest disappear :when such dualities cease to exist :Oneness itself cannot exist, :to this ultimate finality no law or description applies :For the unified mind in accord with the Way :all self-centered striving ceases :Doubts and irresolutions vanish :and life in true faith is possible :With a single stroke we are free from bondage :nothing clings to us and we hold to nothing :All is empty, clear, self-illumination :with no exertion of the mind's power :Here thought, feeling, knowledge and imagination are :of no value in this world of Suchness there is neither :self nor other than self :To come directly into harmony with this reality :just simply say when doubt arises: "Not two" :In this "not two" nothing is separate, nothing :is excluded no matter when or where, enlightenment :means entering this truth :And this truth is beyond extension or diminution in time :or space in it a single thought is ten thousand years :Emptiness here, Emptiness there... :but the infinite universe stands always before your eyes :Infinitely large and infinitely small, no difference for :definitions have vanished and no boundaries are seen :So too with Being and non-Being :Don't waste time in doubts and arguements that have nothing to do with this :One thing, all things: :move along and intermingle without distinction :To live in this realization is to be without anxiety about non-perfection :To live in this faith is the road to non-duality :Because the non-dual is one with the trusting mind :Words ! :The Way is beyond language :For in it there is :no yesterday :no tommorrow :no today (VERSES ON THE FAITH MIND by Seng-Tsan the third Zen Patriarch. Translated by Ricahard B. Clarke). ---- Introduction Page One ... Page Two ... Page Three ... Without Commentary ... Cleary Translation ... Shinjin-No-Mei D.T.Suzuki ---- A translation known as Faith Mind by Clark is a W.I.P. as is the original Chinese ---- Category:-ts-